How to import contact records for receiver base of a mailing (includes video demo)

Some organizations have the Communications module for sending mailings to supporters. This solution describes how to import contact records and apply a special flag to the records, so the organization can query on the special flag and select the records to the email's receiver base.

Article
Number:55612

Products:

Blackbaud_Sphere

Step One: Import Records Use this procedure to import a CSV file that contains the contact information you want to bring into Sphere. Make sure the CSV file is less than 1 MB when importing. If it is larger, create two separate files before importing.

Note: Although you can save a file as Text (Tab delimited), Sphere requires that you save the file as CSV for import. Sphere will notify you if you attempt to import a file that is not saved with file extension .csv.

Click Do not import duplicate records if you want Sphere to check the data you are importing against data already in the Sphere CRM database for duplicates.

Click Allow duplicates to be created if you want to import data, regardless if there are duplicates.

Click Allow update records using Kintera supporter id if you to import data and update duplicates that match the data in Sphere using the Supporter ID field.

Click Allow update records using Kintera alternate id if you want to import data and update duplicates that match the data in Sphere using the Alternate ID field.

Note: If the CSV file you are importing does not contain records with Alternate IDs, or the IDs are not in the CRM database, Sphere will allow the import and will treat them as a new record.

Click Next to proceed to Step 2 of the Import Wizard.

Configure Step 2A: Set Default Values if you want to set default values for fields.

Note: The default value changes you make in Step 2A will not impact contact information that already exist in the Sphere CRM database. For example, if you are importing a contact record (contact information for an individual or organization) that already exists in the Sphere CRM database, the default values for that record will not be changed. This is because the new contact record you are importing will be assigned a new contact ID, and will be seen by Sphere as a new contact record.

We suggest adding a Special Flag identifier as a default. For example, "3/7/2011 Segment X import"

Click Next when done.

Configure Step 2B: Select Segments and eNewsletters if you created segments and want to associate the contact records in the CSV file with the segment. This is optional.

Select the appropriate segment that should be applied to the entire file

Click Next.

Check the appropriate eNewsletter list if you want to automatically assign the contacts in the CSV file to a subscriber list. By default, the General Subscription eNewsletter subscription is included in the list. This is optional.

For Step 3: Map the fields, perform the following steps. This is not an optional step.

In Name of Batch, enter a name for the import batch.

This is the only information that is required in this wizard screen. All other entries are optional. However, the record labels in your CSV file (for example, First Name, Last Name, and so on) must match the field names expected by Sphere. The batch name is used for internal tracking.

Map the fields you will import. When you import individuals or organizations, there are specific minimum fields you must map. If you do not map fields correctly, your import will fail.

Click Import Now to begin the import process.

The batch will be sent to the queue for processing, and the Import Data page will show the status of the batch. While the batch is being processed, the status will be Processed. When it is complete, the status will change to Complete. You may need to refresh your browser. This can take up to 24 hours.